VALLE/1

Davies et al/2000, 307: `This stone was discovered in 1933 'lying near the hedge by the pathway leading from the entrance steps to the West door of the church', and published and illustrated in the following year with comments on dating and Insular parallels by Sir Charles Peers [Carey/1934. 132--133). The stone was next cited 25 years later when it was dated to the 7th century and seen as vital evidence for Guernsey's conversion to Christianity. ... It now stands on the southern side of the church's western door, between a small wall and the path leading from the west door to the road.

The site and stone were visited by members of the CISP team in August 1999.'

Geology:

Davies et al/2000, 307: `The stone is a pillar of local granodiorite'.

cross-markedDavies et al/2000, 307: `The stone is a pillar of local granodiorite'.

Condition:

incomplete , someDavies et al/2000, 308: `The left-hand edge of the inscribed face is badly chipped, the right-hand less so. On the left-hand side the damage continues beneath the level of the lettering, where a substantial amount of stone has been lost'.

Davies et al/2000, 309: `A deeply incised Latin cross, with expanded terminals, is carved 9cm from the top of what remains of the western face of the pillar and 25cm from current ground level. This cross is 32cm tall and approximately 22cm wide, and is incised substantially deeper than the text that accompanies it. The inscription is arranged in 4 horizontal lines, above and below the cross, and in all quadrants except the lower right'.

Notes

n/a ; broad ; mixed ; separatedDavies et al/2000, 309: `The inscription begins with an omega and an unidentifiable character. Beneath, in the top left-hand quadrant of the cross, is an alpha. A second omega occupies the top right-hand quadrant. In the lower left-hand quadrant are the letters DS, with contraction mark, and, beneath them, more letters, with possible traces of the bow of a letter preceding them on this line. The earliest publication makes reference to a line of text above these letters but nothing of this can now be seen.'

Incision:

pock+rubDavies et al/2000, 310: `This weathering precludes any definitive assessment of the carving technique deployed in the carving of the letters, although they may have been pocked and smoothed.'

700 - 999 (Davies/etal/2000)Davies et al/2000, 313: `The stone is best interpretated as a grave marker, with an inscription of 8th-, 9th-, or 10th-century date'.

Language:

Latin (rcaps)

Ling. Notes:

none

Palaeography:

Davies et al/2000, 311--12: `The inscription is in capitals. The first line consists of an omega (minuscule form), repeated on the next line, and a second character resembling a backwards C joined to a horizontal I. No exact parallel for this can be found, although a similar symbol, of no lexical import, is found on an inscription from Trier, whilst a not too dissimilar mark is known from a lead coffin in Wales [Nash-Williams/1950, no. 27]. The second line has an alpha and omega on either side of the upright of the cross. The alpha is in the form of a square A where the two uprights do not meet but rather join a flat top stroke; this stroke seems only to extend to the left. The third line has a round capital D and majuscule S, between which is a superlineate contraction mark. This lay-out is reminiscent of the 9th- and 10th-century alpha and omega series from Pembrokeshire [Nash-Williams/1950, nos. 376, 380, 392, 393]. The other letters of the inscription are capitals. The N, S, I, and D are standard capitals, while the lower of the two cross-strokes of the F has been placed very low down on the ascender. The final A is much the same as the alpha of line two, although the top-stroke extends to both right and left, and the letter is shorter and more squat as a result of the uprights being placed farther apart. Being in plain, undecorated capitals the lettering is difficult to date, with only the form of the A at all distinctive; within this corpus the closest parallel, albeit with an angle-bar, is from Lanrivoaré [LRVOA/1], dated to the 7th or 8th century. This form of A, with a flat top stroke, which extends only to the left, is also known from 9th-century manuscripts in Brittany.'

Legibility:

poorDavies et al/2000, 310: `All the lettering is worn to some degree...The R recorded by earlier viewers preceding the latter characters is now invisible.'

[--][.]nsf[r]ida (Language: Germanic; Gender: female)
Davies et al/2000, 312: `The name at the end of the inscription is a Germanic compound, represented as a first-declension Latin feminine in the nominative. The second element, which is more or less complete in the inscription, is very common. Both masculine and feminine forms are well attested: e.g., continental examples such as masculine simplex Lantfridus, Sigefridus, Bilefridus; feminine Bricciofrida, Bertefrida, Gundefrida, Immafrita. Frankish masculine names in -fred, -frid, -frit, -fredo or Latinized -fredus, -fredi are also common in CR. Comparable forms from Britain include Fridus [Okasha/1993, no. 62], and Canfridus, Gosfridus, Osfrith, Wealdfrith, and the feminine Osfrida. Forms with -nsfrid- or -nsfrið, as apparently occurs here, are not common. So it remains unclear what the first element might be. However, three individuals named Old English Ansfrith are listed by Searle.